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Monday, December 30, 2013

I went to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug a couple of days ago and I wanted some nail art to match the occasion. Thankfully, I'd been drooling over Chalkboard Nails' phoenix-inspired manicure, so I thought I'd give it a shot!

I began by assembling my polish - I don't have a gold flake polish (...yet...) so I chose to use Nfu Oh 45, an orange flakie, as well as Rimmel Rapid Ruby, OPI In My Back Pocket and China Glaze Happy Go Lucky. Finally, I used A England Camelot as my black base. The brush I used is the medium-length striper from this brush set from Born Pretty store.

I started off with one coat of A England Camelot, then used small dabbing brush strokes to add my first coat of red and orange. I painted two coats of yellow over the tips of my nail to make sure no black showed through (if I do this again, I'd probably paint half the nail yellow in the first place with no black underneath!). I kept going over the design with the different colours of polish until I got the look I wanted. It took about three goes with each colour, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!I added some dots of Camelot for the floating ash and some Nfu Oh 45 flakies to give the look a touch of sparkle, then finished off with Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

I'm so glad that I persisted with this manicure (it looked pretty crappy at the start!) because I love how it looks! I think it's a very organic-looking flame with lots of life and movement to it. I do wish I could have gotten the more refined, delicate look like the Chalkboard Nails version, so I think I need to trim one of my stripers to get a thinner brush for next time!I hope you enjoyed this post, and let me know what you thought of The Desolation of Smaug as well! (I have many feelings. Too many. Help me.)

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Hello all, I've got a gorgeous Gloss 'n Sparkle polish today - this is Blaqua, a blue creme-based polish with small blue and black hexes. It applies smoothly in two thick-ish coats and one coat of top coat smooths everything out.

Blaqua's a beautiful polish, looking like a speckled egg - very subtle and pretty. Overall, a joy to wear!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas, or if you don't celebrate Christmas, happy soon-to-be-2014! This is my Christmas manicure - I began with one coat of A England Perceval, a gorgeous red foil that is a perfect one-coater!

On my ring and thumb nails, I added a coat of OPI White Shatter. I was going to do this on all the nails (because I was too lazy for nail art), but I love Perceval too much to cover it up completely.

For a little more sparkle, I added some Dearlee 079, a fine red glitter in a clear base, to the tips of my other nails. It's extremely subtle but in the right light it really pops!I finished off with Cult Nails Wicked Fast, and used an extra coat over the shatter polish to smooth out the bumpiness.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

A lot of bloggers have been doing the 'distressed' look first seen on Chalkboard Nails, so I decided to try it. It gives a grungy effect and I was very surprised as to how easy it was to achieve!

I started off with two coats of Misa Lime Love, a pale green with a golden shimmer that has a thick-ish formula. It was a little difficult to apply and nail line was still visible after two coats.After that dried, I used Ulta3 Tahitian Lime, China Glaze Starboard and Zoya Ivanka for the rough swipes of colour.

Finally I added the black, A England Camelot, and a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast to finish off. I'm really happy with how this manicure turned out - it was quick, and the end effect is so gorgeous!

Notes on removal: Misa Lime Love stained my nails to a yellowy colour that looks pretty bad in some lights but invisible in others - try wearing two coats of base coat if you're wearing this polish!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

I found the formula to be quite thin and very streaky on the first coat, so I needed three coats for opacity. I'm wearing three coats with top coat in these photos.

My favourite thing about this polish is that it's a slightly grey white and it definitely makes a difference on the nail - it's much less stark than a chalky white. It's also very smooth and a perfect base for nail art, or even to wear by itself! I find there's something very clean and chic about white nails.

You can see the difference below - Illamasqua Scorch is a true bright white while My Boyfriend Scales Walls is gentler on the eyes and slightly grey.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Hello all, here's a beautiful polish to show you today! This is Zoya Aurora, a grape-purple scattered holo that applies smoothly in 2 - 3 coats depending on application. I used two coats on some nails and three on others.In some lights, the holo flecks show as silvery-white that gives the polish a dustier look. However, in sunlight and some indoor lights the polish becomes fiery and intense as the holo reveals itself. All in all, a lovely polish!

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Hello all! Nail Pattern Boldness Oodiful is a polish I had been lusting after for ages, and I only recently got a chance to wear it.

Oodiful is a dove grey jelly with matte white and pink glitter (hexes, microglitter and squares), a rather unorthodox combination but one I've seen popping up here and there quite recently. The polish is inspired by the Ood from Doctor Who. I watch Doctor Who and find the Ood to be kind of creepy and weird, but this polish is gorgeous, so I love it anyway!

I was initially worried about opacity, but I dived right in without a base colour and applied Oodiful on its own. I'm wearing three coats in these photos with one coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat.

I used reasonably thick coats but they all leveled out perfectly, and the sparseness of the glitter means that the polish doesn't sit too thickly on the nail. Three thinner coats would probably work just fine. Another positive is that the glitter lays very flat, and I only needed one coat of top coat for smoothness.

Overall, Oodiful is a lovely polish with great application and I really enjoyed wearing it!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Oh Nfu Oh, you always make me happy. This is Nfu Oh JS10, a baby pink jelly that's still slightly transparent at four coats but covers completely in five.Beautiful formula, streak-free and a lovely soft colour!

I did a syrup gradient on my thumb, which gave a sweet, faded effect. Seriously, if you're in need of jellies, I'd go for the Nfu Ohs!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

My striping tape shenanigans strike again! This time I tried a simple colour block as accents on my ring finger and thumb.

For this manicure, I began by cutting some strips of striping tape while my nails were bare. Then I applied a base of three coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and topped it with Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat to speed up the drying time.

When that was completely dry, I placed the striping tape on my ring and thumb nails and filled in the blocks on one of the nails with China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (neon yellow), Australis Totes Amaze (neon pink) and Models Own Orange Sorbet (neon orange). I only needed one coat of each polish over the white - no streaking or sheerness to worry about!

As soon as I finished applying the polish, I peeled the tape off and repeated the process with my thumb.

I'm really happy with how this mani turned out! It's bright, colourful and was very easy to achieve. I hope you enjoy it too!

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Hello all, today I have a swatch of Contrary Polish Somebody Loved, the first polish of this brand that I've tried.

Somebody Loved is a pink-tinted nude polish with a faint pink shimmer. My expectation of the polish was that it would be a pale pink shimmer, but in reality it is definitely a nude.It is, however, a very flattering colour and the formula is good too, though it's a little thick. I'm wearing two coats on some nails and three on others for full opacity, all topped with Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Iris Dust is a predominantly dark purple-magenta polish that shifts to a golden yellow and even to green in some lights.The polish is very sheer on its own so I layered two coats of Iris Dust over A England Camelot (black creme) to bring out the colour shift. I finished off with a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat.

Iris Dusts applied very smoothly over black and the colour shift is very strong! In some lights the polish can even look completely gold!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

I'm very excited to showcase this polish today - this is Emily de Molly Cosmic Forces, a gorgeous purple jelly packed full of purple and magenta hexes, circles and large circle glitter.

Cosmic Forces applied easily in two coats - the base is quite pigmented and the glitter doesn't clump on application, which was fantastic! I was worried about having to fish for the large circles but all I needed to do was wiggle the brush around in the bottle, then draw it out carefully and there was a large circle on at least one side of the brush most of the time. Note that if you have very curved nails, you should probably avoid the large circles on your smallest nails (I didn't put them on my pinkie nails) and make sure to place them in a spot that they won't stick up from.I finished off with a thick coat of Essence Gel Look then a coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat. This made the mani pretty much glassy smooth, and I'm pleased to say that the large circles don't stick up much and they don't catch on anything either!

Overall, I'm so happy with this polish! I love that it's opaque in two coats, and the depth of it plus the combination of glitter makes it very unique. Definitely worth having!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Hello all, today I have a Nfu Oh flakie polish to show you today. This is Nfu Oh 45, a bright orange flakie (which I awkwardly thought was red until I swatched it).It applies smoothly and on its own could be opaque in about five coats (at four coats, a bit of nail line was still visible). By itself, the orange pops and there are only hints of yellow flakies.

Over black, the flakies show up and are very fiery; mostly orange and red with a hint of yellow. Definitely a winner!

I began with Misa Ripe Raspberry (pastel pink, one coat), Misa Great Grape (muted pastel purple, one coat), Misa Blueberry Blast (pastel blue, two coats), Sinful Colours Pistache (pastel green, two coats) and China Glaze Lemon Fizz (pale yellow, two coats).Then, using a makeup sponge, I created the diagonal gradients using the colour of the nail to one side, the base colour and the colour of the nail to the other side. For example, for my middle finger I used green at the top of the sponge, blue in the middle and purple at the bottom.I finished off with two coats of top coat to smooth everything out. The gradient did look quite patchy before top coat, but afterwards it was all blended and perfect!I'm very proud of myself. It took heaps of work but I'm glad I tried it! I told my colleagues at work to look their fill because I probably won't get myself up to doing a mani like this for a while.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Hello all! I have another Alanna Renee polish from her Magical World collection - this is Chocolate Frog, inspired by the packaging of chocolate frogs in Harry Potter. It has a dark blue jelly base with gold hexes and microglitter. I love this polish, it's so fun and complex and applies smoothly in just two coats!I finished with one coat of Essence Gel Look and one coat of Cult Nails Wicked Fast top coat, though I could have gone for a thicker coat of each because after it dried, the manicure was quite bumpy.Another thing I noticed - not necessarily a bad thing - was that the polish looked very teal a lot of the time due to the blue jelly over the gold hexes. In the future, to both minimise bumpiness and bring out the gold and blue in the polish, I'd probably wear one coat of Chocolate Frog over a dark blue creme.Overall, I'm very impressed with this polish and I definitely recommend it!

Notes on wear time and removal: I wore this mani for about four days and only experienced minor tipwear - great for an indie! You will need a peel-off base coat or the foil method of removal for this. I used the foil method with no issues.

I'm Alicea from Melbourne, Australia and nail polish is my (addictive) hobby. This blog also features Jessie, who started my obsession.
Instagram (will be updated more regularly than the blog!): @polishandprejudice